It looks as though Rodolfo Vieira’s first walk to the cage this year at UFC Fight Night 251 on February 15 is no longer in jeopardy. Originally scheduled to contend with Jacob Malkoun, the Aussie announced last week that he had to bow out from the bout due to picking up an injury.
Fortunately, Rodolfo Vieira will still remain on the card, as The Ultimate Fighter season 29 alum Andre Petroski has raised his hand to step in on short notice to take on the three-time IBJJF world champion.
Rodolfo Vieira May Just Be Most Dangerous Submission Artist at Middleweight
Since making his way into the UFC back in 2019, Rodolfo Vieira has garnered a couple of very impressive accomplishments inside the world-famous Octagon. At the time of this writing, “The Black Belt Hunter” holds the record for most promotional arm triangle chokes with four.
Along with a rear naked choke stoppage against Dustin Stoltzfus at UFC on ESPN 26, all of Rodolfo Vieira’s wins have come inside the distance in the UFC, making him one of the more prolific submission finishers in the 185-lb division. He also holds claim to three Performance of the Night bonuses, having collected two of those awards in just his last two fights over Cody Brundage and Armen Petrosyan.
So far, his only losses in the company have been to some of the more established names in the weight class. In 2021, he was stripped of his undefeated record by currently streaking contender Anthony Hernandez, being choked out of all things in the first round by guillotine.
Then, a year later, Rodolfo Viera met his match and suffered his most recent setback to the hard-hitting Chris Curtis, falling short in the contest by unanimous decision to the once regional two-weight champion.
Andre Petroski Looking to Keep Win Streak Alive On Quest for Contendership vs. Rodolfo Vieira
On the 29th season of the hit reality television show, The Ultimate Fighter, Petroski looked to be a favorite to win the entire competition. Under the tutelage of top featherweight contender Brian Ortega, the Renzo Gracie Philly product bulldozed his first opponent on the show, Aaron Phillips, to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament. There he ultimately lost to the season’s eventual winner, Bryan Battle, but not before earning a chance to fight in the UFC.
Making his debut at UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Chikadze, Petroski battled fellow TUF 29 fighter Michaël Gillmore, whom he would defeat by third round TKO. Picking up another win two months later over Yaozong Hu, he then put himself on the map with a highlight-reel submission victory against Californian prodigy Nick Maximov. In the coming years, Petroski picked up two more victories, beating both Wellington Turman and Gerald Meerschaert, cementing himself as a true prospect at middleweight.
Then, he came face-to-fist with a budding juggernaut of the division, Michel Pereira, who was coming up from 170, losing via first round knockout. Things didn’t get better from there, as the Pennsylvania native was stopped again after diving head first into the pelvis of Jacob Malkoun before being finished with subsequent ground-and-pound.
However, things eventually began to look up for Petroski, because in his next two UFC appearances, he managed to get himself back into the win column and stayed there with two back-to-back wins over Josh Fremd and Dylan Budka.
Now riding a two fight win streak, he will attempt to springboard himself toward contender status by brushing away the top submission artist of the 185-lb landscape in Rodolfo Vieira.
